Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
RENO, Nev. (AP) — The suspected armed robber killed in a gun battle with Reno police outside a casino resort was a 42-year-old Idaho man who was wanted on drug charges in southern Nevada and had been living in a Reno motel, authorities said Tuesday.
Royal Shawn Bingamen of Nampa was pronounced dead Sunday night at Renown Regional Medical Center shortly after he was mortally wounded in front of the Peppermill Resort Spa Casino south of downtown, the Washoe County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office in Pioche earlier had issued a warrant for his arrest for narcotics offenses, police said.
Bingamen allegedly shot a shopper who tried to intervene during a robbery about 5 p.m. Sunday at a CVS Pharmacy, the sheriff's office said. He fled in a truck and led police on a chase, exchanging gunfire before exiting the truck and heading toward the entrance of the Peppermill before he was shot, the statement said.
No officers were injured.
The shopper, John Oliveira, was treated for a gunshot wound to his side and released from Renown on Monday. He told a Reno television station that he was lucky to be alive.
"The gun was going back and forth, the middle of my chest, the side of my chest," Oliveira told KOLO-TV. "When he said, 'You don't want to do this,' that's when I pushed as hard as I could and the gunshot went off, and nailed me in my side."
"The doctor said if it was an inch more, I would have been dead," he said.
The sheriff's office is leading a criminal investigation into the shooting. Reno police confirmed Tuesday that they have launched an internal administrative review.
"This is a standard investigation in accordance with RPD policies and the Officer Involved Shooting Protocol," Reno police said in a statement.
Police have declined to comment on how many officers were involved in the shooting, saying only that the officers involved were on paid administrative leave "pending initial criminal review and fitness for duty evaluation."
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
